Archives for April 2013

I'm in the tunnel. You know the one I mean, the one where you are so engrossed, overwhelmed and logistically enclosed by what you are doing that life seems narrow but not small, confined but not constrained. I am full up with my life right now, which I summed up as well as possible in the title: Lambs, Rain, Papers, Lambs, Rain, Papers.
If there is life outside of this small but saturated universe, would it do my laundry? This is not a small thing to ask, given that the pants I am wearing into the barn could stand up by themselves, and whose smell could clear a room. I should save them for the next time I think I'll have to stand in line and wait for something.
And so, today post is all about the farm. Although I have had an especially interesting week on campus (including a vigorous Read More

We started a "Guess the Breed Background" contest this week after sending in a DNA sample of Katie's dog, Leo to the Mars Wisdom Panel lab. Here's a photo of Leo if you missed it:
Over 292 people sent in their guesses, and congratulations are due to Robin S! Of all the 290+ guesses on the blog, you came closest of anyone to guessing Leo's genetic background, as analyzed by the Wisdom Panel (Professional), by guessing (in order of genetic representation), Boxer/Shih Tzu/Sheltie . But then, no one actually came very close to guessing what came back on the Wisdom Panel, which was:
One parent was half Boxer and half American Staffordshire Terrier (so Leo is 1/4 of each). (No one guessed both breeds as part of the mix, which is understandable if you think about it, but a good Read More

It's time for a contest! I'm going to be writing a blog on Friday about the results of a Wisdom Panel® (Professional) test that Katie and I had run on her new mystery pup, Leo, adopted from Humane Animal Welfare Society of Waukesha, WI.
We thought it would be great to fun to ask what your best guesses of what breeds make up Leo's heritage, and will reinforce the winner with a signed Patricia McConnell DVD of his or her choice.
Below you'll find pictures of Leo, as well as some physical characteristics. Guess up to three breeds that you think might be represented in Leo's genetics, in order from greatest to least percentages. Get your guesses in by 11:59pm CST on Thursday, April 11 and we'll let you know who won, along with the full results of Leo's breed profile in Friday's Read More

There's always a silver lining, and that was true of our endless winter here in Wisconsin. Given the high snow depth and the low temperatures, I couldn't always get myself out for a long walk every day, and so Willie and I played a lot of games indoors and we both ended up learning something interesting. I decided in December that it was time to try, again, to teach Willie the names of some of his toys. If you've been reading the blog awhile you may recall my writing in Feb of 2010 about Willie's inability to understand words as nouns in What do words mean to dogs? and in January of 2011 in Could You Learn 1022 Nouns? As I mentioned in those articles, Willie appeared to see most verbal cues as verbs, with a few exceptions of living things like "sheep" and "Jim." But every time I tried to Read More

About the Author

Patricia B. McConnell, PhD, CAAB is an applied animal behaviorist who has been working with, studying, and writing about dogs for over twenty-five years. She encourages your participation, believing that your voice adds greatly to its value. She enjoys reading every comment, and adds her own responses when she can.

LEARN MORE FROM PATRICIA’S BOOKS & DVDs!

Patricia is known the world over for her clear and engaging books and DVDs on dog training and canine behavior problems. You can also “meet” Patricia in person on her seminar DVDs, from The Art & Science of Canine Behavior to Treating Dog-Dog Reactivity.